Some one has ordered something on my amazon account and I have received the goods.... why would this happen

[pud1]

I received an email this morning from fedex telling me I had a parcel out for delivery from the USA. the parcel has arrived and it’s a hard drive type thing with an amazon invoice for 197 dollars. I have called amazon and I have found out that I have an amazon.COM account. Apparently this is an automatic thing when you open a uk account. The item has been purchased using my card and sent to my address. I have not done this. My account has obviously been hacked and I am returning for a full refund but I don’t understand why anyone would do this. What would anyone gain from this. I am confused.

Presumably someone dumb enough to try and send themselves some kit and fail. Amazon has a bunch of protections against changing delivery address - confirming card number, particularly. And having failed to change the address, the dumbass hit "buy" anyway which has alerted you to the breakin.

Change your password to something better (longer is better than more complex, btw), and forget about it.

I have heard of a scam involving this. I am not sure how it works, as they are not stealing goods because they don't get them, but it can affect you.

Be prepared for someone pretending to be from the courier company to knock on your door to collect it again.

Don't give it to them - it can all be part of the scam.

If they have hacked your account, they may accessed the card details stored on your Amazon account. This happened to me (without my knowledge). The card company refused the transaction and cancelled/replaced my card. So if I was you, I would be contacting the card provider.

No it is NOT automatic for you to have an account with Amazon.com if you open a uk Amazon account and live and bank in the UK.
Don’t leave this to chance - call Amazon ASAP and get them to change your UK account as it has been compromised - somebody is using your personal details and you need to stop it immediately.
Check your bank accounts and credit cards and ensure your mobile phone call signal is still connected. After checking they have your correct details, scammers can divert your calls so they pretend to be you if a bank or whoever calls you for security verification.
It happened to me.
It started very subtly without me realising.
They moved on to big transactions and ordering things in my name within a 48 hour window before I discovered it.
Don’t leave it to chance, or think you’ve not got much to take - I had such a trying time proving to credit cards and banks that I was the victim of fraud.

There's a reviews scam where sending it to you allows them to leave 5 star reviews for it as a verified purchase and therefore sell more.

I'm always curious about Amazon security. I still use the original password with them after about 15 years and it's one that I can't use on any other website because it's too short and simple.

You can also order stuff without putting your card details in, which is great for the lazy who can't be arsed to get up to find their card, but does seem like weak security.

I wonder if they have more fraud than other websites and they just absorb it due to their size or their security works in other ways?

I had this with a load of books. They were from my mums account she passed 3 years ago but I'm now living at her old address. I had about 9 books try to be delivered, I contacted amazon and so did the delivery company as I explained the situation to them. Amazon would not help at all due to data Protection and it being in my mums name. I have no idea who was sending them, also from the USA, it was really upsetting at the time. No one I contacted could help and they've stopped now.

No it is NOT automatic for you to have an account with Amazon.com if you open a uk Amazon account and live and bank in the UK.

Yes it is (or at least it has been the case in the past). You can confirm/deny it by simply going to the .com Amazon and logging in using your .uk name+pass.

I never set that up, but I occasionally use it to buy stuff from the US when it works out cheaper despite shipping. Same UK CC, as it's the same account.

@BarbaraofSevillle you've got an admittedly crap password and yet you've chosen to save CC details? That's asking for trouble! It may "seem like weak security" but that's because you've chosen to make it so.

Is the hard drive from a third party seller OP, albeit shipped by Amazon?

Spoon is correct, your Amazon UK account details will login to most other Amazon sites too.

This happened to dd recently, not from US but random things arrived. Amazon refunded in full

I just tried to log in to Amazon.com

didn't accept it

that's good. I don't leave cc info there usually though, wonder if different steps link up to that?

I think first purchases from Amazon need to be to the cc address, but then future purchases can be to anywhere so I'd be worried that if you don't close the account pronto there will be more transactions.

Are you sure you haven't been on the app and the 1-click-buy button has accidentally been pressed.

I've ordered stuff before (and hastily cancelled) that I never wanted to purchase because of that damn button. Only reason I knew was because it sent me an email right away.

Can you contact Action Fraud and ask for advice?

It’s about the reviews. There was an article in the paper about it. Google it and see. All about fake reviews

I would cancel any cards on that Amazon account and inform the banks there's been fraudulent activity. Check the delivery addresses - is there anything you don't recognise?

Thank you for all the advice.

I have removed all cards from uk and USA amazon accounts. Informed the bank and cancelled all our cards as both my and oh debit cards are saved as amazon payment methods.
I will keep checking bank statements for any unusual transactions

I agree with Spoon. Someone has hacked your account, but screwed up and didn’t succeed in having the things delivered to a different address. My account was hacked to the tune of just under £1000 last autumn, and the first I knew of it was when I got an email telling me I had signed for the delivery of some expensive equipment at an unfamiliar London address. I disputed the transaction with my credit card provider and was eventually refunded.

I've got two step authentication set up with Amazon, when I log in it asks to send a code to my mobile or email. Worth investigating.

However, I've just changed my password to a long and not memorable one!! Might curb my spending though if it bumps me out and I'm not near the laptop

The cards will be fine - Amazon don't reveal existing card info to you (or anyone else!), just the last four digits and expiry date. No need to be watching your bank statements like a hawk.

Do check around your account though - all the six top boxes under Your Account are worth a look (purchases, login details, prime, addresses, payments, gift cards) as well as things like Text tracking alerts under Emails, Content and Devices under Digital content and devices, and anywhere else someone could have added their details or taken yours.

I get random Amazon parcels every few days and have done since November. They don't show up on my account and no money is taken out. We keep informing Amazon but they are supremely unbothered. It's all utter tat too. We think it's the review scam.

change your amazon password/code.

Does anyone past or present know what password you would use?